Detroit plan would put city’s finances under board supervision

http://wcmu.org/news/wp-content/uploads/2014/05/Detroit0508-1.mp3Detroit’s finances would be under the scrutiny of an appointed board for as long as 20 years after the city’s bankruptcy under a plan unveiled today.
The package of 10 bills outlines the state’s role and its conditions for committing almost 200 million dollars from the state’s “rainy day” savings to Detroit’s bankruptcy settlement. That would help help preserve retiree pension benefits, and ensure the assets of the Detroit Institute of Arts aren’t auctioned off.

State Representative John Walsh chairs a special committee that’s crafting the legislation.

“We seriously do not wish to be in the day-to-day operations of the city, but we do want to assure that taxpayers that we’re keeping an eye on the money that we’ve put in there and trying to make sure that the city doesn’t fall back into trouble again,” said Walsh.

Walsh says a key to that is a panel of fiscal experts named by the governor, legislative leaders, and others to step in if and when they see signs of financial trouble in the city.